Tabloid Tales of the Past

Jury selection was under way in County Court for the manslaughter trial of former Assistant Lairdsville Fire Chief Alan G. Baird III in connection with September’s fatal fire training incident.

George L. Barzee was elected vice president of the Rome Savings Bank.

Plans by two Utica-area hospitals to each build $5 million medical office buildings probably won’t have great impact on Rome Hospital’s efforts to recruit physicians, Richard J. Kaleba, Rome Hospital administrator, said. St. Elizabeth Hospital has won approval from the city Planning Board to construct a medical office building. Also, St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital Center plans to develop a condominium-type office building on its campus.

May 12, 1992

Nicole Starr Sasso, a junior at Rome Free Academy, has been awarded a gold medal plaque as a national winner in the Scholastic Art Awards. She is the daughter of Eleanor Sasso, 14 Panesi Ave.

May 12, 1982

As the shock wave of a declining economy continues to ripple through local industries, Revere Copper Products Inc. announced today the layoff of 40 production workers in its Rome Division.

In a decision made public today, Supreme Court Justice Edward F. McLaughlin said state officials acted properly when they granted Oneida County permission to proceed with plans for construction of an $11 million garbage-burning steam plant on River Road.

BOONVILLE — Reduced demand for its wood furniture goods has forced the Boonville Division of Ethan Allen Inc. to shut down operations this week and next.

May 12, 1972

The Rome Teen Center opened last night at 502 Calvert St. after seven months of work in the $3,000 renovation of the building, donated by Mrs. Leo Coleman.

May 12, 1962

Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, acting upon the recommendation of his Advisory Board on National Parks, Historical Sites, Buildings and Monuments, has turned down proposals to make the site of Fort Stanwix and the Oriskany Battlefield national historic landmarks.

May 12, 1952

The Rome aircraft observation post at Lowell has been ordered on 24-hour duty although the post is very much undermanned, having only 35 volunteers and needing at least 100 more.

Today is Saturday, May 12, the 133rd day of 2012. There are 233 days left in the year.

Today in History

On May 12, 1937, Britain’s King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey; his wife, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen consort.

In 1780, during the Revolutionary War, the besieged city of Charleston, S.C., surrendered to British forces.

In 1812, English poet Edward Lear, known for nonsensical verse like "The Owl and the Pussycat," was born.

In 1902, anthracite coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strike. (The strike effectively ended in October 1902 with the appointment of an Anthracite Coal Strike Commission by President Theodore Roosevelt.)

In 1922, a 20-ton meteor crashed near Blackstone, Va.

In 1930, Chicago’s Adler Planetarium first opened to the public.

In 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, N.J.

In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.

In 1958, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD for short).

In 1970, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Harry A. Blackmun as a Supreme Court justice.

In 1982, in Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II. (In 2008, the pope’s longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the assault.)

In 1992, actor Robert Reed of TV’s "The Brady Bunch" died in Pasadena, Calif., at age 59.

Ten years ago

Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba, becoming the first U.S. president - in or out of office - to visit since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

Five years ago

Virginia Tech held its first commencement ceremonies since the April 16 shooting rampage that claimed 32 victims and the shooter. Voters in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch became the first in the nation to back an ordinance prohibiting landlords from renting to most illegal immigrants. (Court challenges have kept the law from taking effect.) A U.S. patrol was attacked south of Baghdad; four Americans and an Iraqi interpreter were killed, three soldiers were kidnapped and later found dead. A U.S.-led coalition operation supported by NATO troops killed the Taliban’s most prominent military commander, Mullah Dadullah.

One year ago

CEOs of the five largest oil companies went before the Senate Finance Committee, where Democrats challenged the executives to justify tax breaks at a time when people were paying $4 a gallon for gas. A German court convicted retired U.S. autoworker John Demjanjuk (dem-YAHN’-yuk) of being an accessory to the murder of tens of thousands of Jews as a Nazi death camp guard. (Demjanjuk, who maintained his innocence, died in March 2012 at age 91.)